With Peter Case at the helm, the Plimsouls were at the forefront of an army of 1980s guitar bands that drew from punk’s energy but with a lot more attention to melody. This performance at the Whiskey A Go Go is a searing 18-track reminder of what made them important beyond the footnote appearance "A Million Miles Away" in Valley Girl. While generally lumped in with the power-pop revivalists of the time, Beg, Borrow & Steal proves the Plimsouls were capable of raising a lot of hell. – Jim Caligiuri / Austin Chronicle
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Read Peter Case’s interview with The Charleston City Paper
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Peter Case has a richly deserved reputation as an ace songwriter and top-shelf rock & roll singer, but his bandmates were every bit as strong as he was this evening, and guitarist Eddie Muñoz, bassist Dave Pahoa, and drummer Lou Ramirez sound as precise as a Swiss watch while kicking out the big beat with heart, soul, and plenty of sweat. (…) If you loved the Plimsouls, Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal will instantly remind you why they were one of the best bands of the early ’80s, and if you’ve never given them a listen, this is good enough to make anyone with ears a believer. – Mark Deming / All Music Guide
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If you’ve seen the iconic 1983 movie "Valley Girl," starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman, you’ve seen The Plimsouls. They perform a couple songs in the movie, including their minor hit "A Million Miles Away." The group only recorded two discs before disbanding (Case went on to a reasonably successful solo career in blues and folk and a few years ago performed a house concert here in Milwaukee). Interestingly, "A Million Miles Away" is on both. The first was an eponymous disc, which is out of print and hard to find. The second was called "Everywhere at Once." The band broke up shortly after the second disc was released and, by this point, your probably wondering, what’s the point? Though their records still sound interesting, The Plimsouls were always one of those "you have to see them live" bands. As with many bands, the energy and emotion the group generated on stage was hard to replicate in the studio. That’s what makes the "Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal" such a revelation. Recorded at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip, the disc captures the band at full power. Listening to Case, an underrated singer who had been with The Nerves, and Munoz, an equally unsung guitarist, blast through the group’s catalog is a shot of pure adrenaline. With Case’s Rickenbacker guitar and Vox amp blaring through one channel and Munoz dominating the other, Plimsouls originals like "Now," "Zero Hour" and "A Million Miles Away" nestle in next to a handful of covers like Thee Midniters’ "Jump, Jive, and Harmonize," the classic "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and versions of "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!" and "New Orleans" that feature an appearance by New York’s The Fleshtones. If you close your eyes, you can almost smell the beer being spilled on the floor as you imagine a great moment in L.A. rock history. Forget the fact that The Plimsouls fell between the cracks of the emerging punk and new wave scenes and never really got their due. This is crunchy, garage pop played to the hilt and this CD might make you want to put on a skinny tie and head out to the Sunset Grill (pictured on the cover) before hitting the clubs. – Drew Olson / OnLosAngelesCA
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The first song that really leaps out at me is "Inch by Inch" (one of my favorite tracks from 1983′s Everywhere at Once) which, I’m assuming, must have been written during the time between the ONiA performance and this one at the Whiskey. While the album version has a shiny, new wave sheen, here it is presented in all of its raw glory. Eddie Muñoz’ guitar sounds phenomenal, and Peter Case’s vocals are to die for– what I think a young John Lennon might have sounded like during one of those legendary eight hour sets in Hamburg.
Other originals not featured on the previous live document, are "Every Day Things" "Shaky City", "Lost Time", "I’ll Get Lucky", "Zero Hour" and "I Want You Back". To go along with tremendous versions of "Hush Hush", "Now", and "A Million Miles Away". Oh, and let’s not forget the covers. There are two Easybeats songs featured, "Women" which would make an appearance on their debut, self-titled long player and a fantastic version of "Sorry". A nod to both their L.A. and Hispanic roots, the Plimsouls’ rollicking version of Thee Midnighters’ "Jump, Jive and Harmonize" absolutely tears the roof down. There’s more, to be sure, but listening to this record nearly thirty years after this show was recorded, one word comes to mind: Timeless. – Burn And Shine
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They left behind but two albums and one ep’s worth of material in their time together, but the Plimsouls left an indelible impression. Rooted in the sounds of the Beatles, Kinks and one-hit wonder American rock, they bristled with an energy that commanded the affection and respect of punk-era peers in Los Angeles bands like X and the Gun Club. It was a time before the ascendance of punk purism, a time when kids rocked out to anything that, well, rocked out.
(…) Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal does the job live recordings are supposed to; it makes you wish you were there. – Steve Wilson / KCFreePress
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The amazing sound of this CD—the great guitar crunch especially, clearly split between left and right channels—displays the band’s ability to house all the then-recent new wave strains and slash them out at handclap-able will. The Plimsouls had a rep for being one of the best live L.A. bands ever, and here is the most keen document of that. – Eric Davidson / The Agit Reader
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Live! Beg, Borrow And Steal contains the sort of no-frills, straight ahead Rock N Roll that made the Beatles media darlings on both sides of the Atlantic. The Plimsouls practice their highly melodic Rock N Roll on a Los Angeles crowd on Halloween 1981, with Peter Case at the top of his vocal game and the band hitting on all eight cylinders. – Wildy’s World
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Recorded on Halloween night in 1981, it’s certainly a nice time warp that sounds pretty good for the time period. As any good live release should hope to accomplish, Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal puts you right in the crowd for a dirty rock and roll set from the Plimsouls that is appropriately rough around the edges. As a bonus, The Fleshtones join in on three cuts. – Addicted To Vinyl
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If you missed out on The Plimsouls’ heyday, Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal is a terrific introduction to the band’s hard-driving sound. If you’re already a fan, it’s a welcome reminder of how much they’re missed. – MusicTap
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I do recall: the pure stoke I felt towards my father as he drove our orange, ’73 Ford Pinto up some L.A. freeway, headlights illuminating the road ahead of us, the seemingly cavernous venue, the sweet stink of marijuana smoke clouding the room, the raw energy of live drums, guitar, and the bass setting the pace of my heart, Peter Case in the flesh, cocked pigeon-toed at the mic belting out the songs I’d sung to myself hundreds of times before, the epiphany of rock and roll. And now these resurrected feelings of youth, stirred to life by this live album from that same tour, ordain my middle-age. Now what? Do it all again, this time with my own kids in tow. – 3Hive
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The Plimsouls were LA’s answer to eighties Southern jangle pop and they deserve to be remembered for more than writing one true power pop classic (as if that isn’t enough). Highly recommended. – Hickory Wind
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Los Angeles at the turn of the ’80s musta been some place to be for all serious music heads. The Gun Club, X, The Misfits, The Motels and The Blasters were all making seminal records, Steve Wynn’s Dream Syndicate were just about to break through and this then-impressionable 14-year old was frantically scanning Sylvie Simmons’ weekly LA column in ‘Sounds’ trying to catch up.
There’s a serious omission from that short-list of demi-Gods, of course. Peter Case’s incendiary quartet THE PLIMSOULS were already confirmed LA heroes and this rapturously-received, adrenaline-soaked live recording from a charged Halloween ’81 show at Hollywood’s legendary Whiskey A-Go-Go more than justifies the MC introducing them as “LA’S finest.”
(…) ‘Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal’ may never have the same cachet as legendary live albums like The Who’s ‘Live At Leeds’, but it vividly captures the seething excitement of a great Plimsouls gig for posterity and deserves to be bracketed with The Dream Syndicate’s great ‘Live At Raji’s. That means it’s an essential document of the fertile 80s L.A scene and you should check it out at your earliest convenience. – Tim Peacock / Whispering And Hollering
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"Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal" showcases the Plimsouls at the height of their power, tearing the roof off and on the verge of starting a riot on the old Sunset Strip. Recorded at the Whisky A Go Go on October 31, 1981, this previously unreleased 18 song live album includes many of the PLIMSOULS classics as well as plenty of surprises. It has been stunningly remastered, features previously unpublished and gorgeous photos by photographer Bob Matheu. Includes 2 songs with guest appearance by the Fleshtones.
Formed in 1978 by Peter Case (vocals, guitar) following his departure from the Nerves and the Breakaways, with Louie Ramirez (drums), Dave Pahoa (bass), and Eddie Muñoz (guitar), the Plimsouls effectively blended roots, British Invasion and garage rock into one unique soul-punk, garage-pop combo. "They boasted a soulful front man and gifted songwriter in Peter Case; a brittle, unconventional lead guitarist in Eddie Muñoz; and a gutsy, power-packed rhythm section in bassist Dave Pahoa and drummer Lou Ramirez. The ‘Souls didn’t just replicate the cliches of power pop, as so many others did – they, and especially Case, were intent on putting their own imprint on the rock and R&B styles they derived their sound from. Their keen originality and their ‘let’s-rock’ attitude removed them from the run of the mill. Despite the misguided notions of observers intent upon categorization, the Plimsouls were always their own men." — Chris Morris